Charcoal grills are well known and very popular. Charcoal grills typically include a lower portion or chamber and an upper portion or lid. The upper portion includes vent openings and a closure mechanism associated with the vent openings to adjust the size of the openings to control temperature and fuel combustion. The lower portion or chamber includes a fuel grate located near the bottom of the chamber to hold the charcoal or other fuel used for cooking. A cooking grate is located near the top of the chamber and above the fuel grate to support the food being cooked. Vent openings are also provided on the bottom of the chamber to provide combustion air for the cooking fuel and to provide a means to clean-out ashes and other debris that accumulates during the cooking process. A plurality of support logs are also provided.
A particularly popular charcoal grill is sold by Weber-Stephen Products LLC and referred to as a Weber Kettle®. A typical Weber Kettle® is shown in FIG. 1. As shown, grill 10 consists of a generally hemispherical, upwardly open lower chamber 12 that includes a plurality of vent openings at the bottom (not shown). A lid 13 having vent holes (not shown) and a vent closure mechanism 14 is also provided. The lower chamber 12 is supported by three legs 15 arranged in a tripod configuration which are attached to the lower chamber 12 by inserting into sockets 16. An ash catcher 17 is positioned below lower chamber 12 and is secured to legs 15 by spring clamps 18. In this representative example, the ash catcher 17 and clamps 18 are of the type shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,140, which is assigned to Weber-Stephen Products LLC and is incorporated herein by reference. An ash disposal damper mechanism 19 may also be provided to aid in the removal of accumulated ash in the lower chamber 12. An example of a typical damper mechanism is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,248, also assigned to Weber-Stephen Products LLC and incorporated herein by reference.
While prior ash catchers have performed satisfactorily, including that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,576,140, as well as other types discussed therein, there are certain drawbacks. For example, the prior art ash catcher bowls are shallow. As a result, they hold less ash and are more susceptible to ash being blown out by wind. Moreover, bowl size in the prior devices was limited because of the structure and operation of the clamps, slots or other means to secure them to the legs. In addition, some users found the prior art spring clamps awkward to use, since the spring arm had to be squeezed within the leg structure. And, depending upon the conditions, the clamps were not sufficiently strong and could result in the ash catcher pan becoming unlevel, falling and/or spilling ash.